For Miral
by Dasia1
Summary: An Endgame Coda: mostly B'Elanna's thoughts about Miral's birth


ENDGAME CODA: FOR MIRAL  
  
Author's Note:  
  
Author: Dasia  
  
Synopsis: An Endgame coda: mostly B'Elanna's thoughts about  
  
Miral's birth  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Written: August 2001  
  
Disclaimer: Paramount/Viacom own Star Trek and its characters.  
  
I am not writing about them for profit but just to see if I  
  
can do it.  
  
Thanks: To Brigid, for suggesting I try writing. And to her  
  
and Barb (SamzMom) for reading the story and encouraging me.  
  
Feedback: I'm hoping for some; it's my first story.  
  
Email: [1]njpm143@hotmail.com  
  
Please do not do anything with the story (other than reading  
  
it, of course) without asking permission.  
  
Emotions washed over B'Elanna as the doctor placed the tiny  
  
bundle in her arms--so unbelievably light. The only possible  
  
response was to burst into tears. This, she thought, is how it  
  
feels to create life. Overwhelmed almost to the point of  
  
numbness. Proud, that she had after all been able to do it.  
  
Humbled by the realization of her part in a much greater  
  
scheme into which this experience had given her the merest  
  
glimpse.  
  
Wide-open, deep blue eyes regarded her. A little stranger.  
  
B'Elanna had always been slow to warm to new acquaintances,  
  
and even though this was her and Tom's eagerly-awaited  
  
daughter, she wondered: 'Who are you? What are you going to do  
  
to my life?' And, 'Will I be able to be the mother I want to be  
  
for you?'  
  
The door to Sickbay slid open, and Tom was by her side. "Are you  
  
all right?"  
  
"More than all right, Tom. Look."  
  
"This is just--incredible, B'Elanna. She is so beautiful."  
  
He stopped speaking to fill his eyes  
  
with the sight of the two of them. His family.  
  
The baby turned her head from side to side, her miniature  
  
tongue flicking in and out of her mouth. B'Elanna passed her  
  
to Tom. He looked deep into his wife's eyes as he cradled his  
  
daughter in his arms, and realized he had never seen B'Elanna  
  
smile with such radiance.  
  
"I can't believe how far we've come together, you and I," he  
  
told her. They were both silent for a time, overcome by the  
  
wonder of it all.  
  
"If only I could have been here with you." There was a world  
  
of regret in Tom's voice.  
  
There was no denying it; the timing had been cruel.  
  
B'Elanna tried to find a way to help Tom come to  
  
terms with missing their daughter's birth.  
  
"I know how much you wanted to stay. But Voyager needed you  
  
even more than I did. And we'll have such a story to tell  
  
Miral about what her Daddy was doing at the very moment she  
  
was born. You'll be her hero."  
  
The baby's movements were becoming more pronounced, almost as  
  
though she was looking for something. Tom and B'Elanna were  
  
lost in rapt admiration of the purposeful way she seemed to  
  
be examining her surroundings. Already an explorer!  
  
They both felt slightly foolish when the doctor pointed out  
  
that she was, in fact, hungry. B'Elanna remembered what he had  
  
told her about nursing, and loosened her gown. Tom carefully  
  
handed back the baby, whose tiny fists were beginning to beat  
  
at the air. Once near her mother's breast, she rooted around  
  
briefly before homing unerringly in on her target. B'Elanna  
  
gasped a little at the unexpected sensation that surged through  
  
her as the baby latched on firmly. Her daughter certainly had  
  
the resolute grip of a Klingon!  
  
Tom took a deep breath, and looked around for a chair. He  
  
felt a little unsteady. But so very proud. Only just born, and  
  
she knew just what to do.  
  
Miral finished nursing, then settled into sleep nestled in her  
  
mother's arms. B'Elanna gradually relaxed, letting go of the  
  
energy and emotion that she had summoned during her labour.  
  
Tom told her about Voyager's daring return to the Alpha  
  
Quadrant, and Janeway's victory over the Borg Queen. But for  
  
the two new parents, the major event of the day had taken  
  
place right here in Sickbay. Their eyes never left Miral,  
  
unless it was to share a contented smile or incredulous laugh  
  
as they admired her lovely little face and kissed her tiny  
  
curling fingers.  
  
B'Elanna described the birth to Tom: "The medication the  
  
doctor gave me took the edge off the pain, but eventually it  
  
wore off. By then, though, I had realized that my body really  
  
did know what to do. It was amazing, it was--" she searched  
  
for the words-- "like I was part of a machine I'd never studied  
  
or used before, but that functioned really, really well. The  
  
waves of pain didn't seem to hurt as much if I worked with them.  
  
Giving her that last push out into the world, I felt so powerful.  
  
It was more exhilarating than I can tell you." B'Elanna finished  
  
her account in a faraway tone of voice.  
  
Tom wondered if he would ever really understand the Klingon  
  
attitude toward physical pain. And he still profoundly  
  
regretted not sharing that transcendent moment with B'Elanna.  
  
But he knew very well by now how to live with what could not be  
  
changed, and his disappointment was already beginning to be  
  
softened by the growing enchantment he felt for his daughter.  
  
For as long as he could, the doctor preserved their privacy,  
  
but eventually, led by the Captain, the friends waiting  
  
outside Sickbay would not be denied entry. They gathered  
  
around B'Elanna's biobed offering hugs, tearful congratulations,  
  
and extravagant admiration of Miral's perfection. They shared  
  
in the Paris family's joy and, as they returned to their  
  
workstations or quarters, they carried in their hearts a bit  
  
of the sense of awe that pervaded Sickbay that day.  
  
Tom and B'Elanna slept at last, with Miral in a tiny bed near  
  
their two biobeds. When she woke for feeding, Tom brought her  
  
to B'Elanna, handing her over almost reluctantly. As B'Elanna  
  
embraced her, nuzzling her soft neck and breathing in the  
  
pure, clean scent of newborn baby, she became aware of yet  
  
another new sensation. She felt herself falling in love with  
  
her baby.  
  
Loving Tom had taken months, years even. A few steps forward,  
  
a step back. Gradually realizing that what she felt for him  
  
was more than just that intense, irresistible desire. Hardly  
  
daring to believe he could feel the same way about her.  
  
Penetrating his cool defenses and allowing him to know her  
  
real, fallible self. And finally being able to trust that he  
  
really did love her, no matter what. The long, sometimes  
  
painful, often joyful journey that had brought the two of them  
  
to this triumphant moment.  
  
But B'Elanna's love for Miral stole over her during that first  
  
quiet night of nursing, tending to baby needs, gazing at that  
  
exquisite little face, and sleeping with Tom by her side. She  
  
felt it take root and bloom in her as the hours passed and she  
  
recognized it for what it was. Effortlessly, B'Elanna's heart  
  
opened and her love for Miral was born.  
  
THE END  
  
References  
  
1. mailto:njpm143@hotmail.com 


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